
{"id":743,"date":"2007-08-16T07:59:51","date_gmt":"2007-08-16T15:59:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/2007\/08\/16\/labyrinth-added-in-hopes-of-spiritual-growth\/"},"modified":"2007-08-16T07:59:51","modified_gmt":"2007-08-16T15:59:51","slug":"labyrinth-added-in-hopes-of-spiritual-growth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/2007\/08\/16\/labyrinth-added-in-hopes-of-spiritual-growth\/","title":{"rendered":"Labyrinth added in hopes of spiritual growth"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/08\/labyrith.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/08\/labyrith.jpg\" height=\"184\" width=\"246\" \/><\/a><br \/>\nA labyrinth, seen above under construction, serves as a spiritual exercise for members of Aldersgate United Methodist Church. Photo Courtesy of Aldersgate United Methodist Church\u00c2\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>By Emily Silva<\/strong><br \/>\nStaff Writer<\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Every time I walk past it, I get a good feeling,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Frank Jones, maintenance caretaker at Aldersgate United Methodist Church in Chapel Hill. His reference was to the most recent addition to the church\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s landscape: a labyrinth in the front garden\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s clearing.<\/p>\n<p>Church member Gerry Guess funded the creation of the labyrinth in memory of her husband, Harry, after he passed away in January. With the help of N.C. State University students and other church members, Gerry\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s vision was made into a reality the entire community can enjoy.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>The twisting pathway is an ancient symbol going back more than 3,500 years. It combines the imagery of a circle and a spiral into one set path, lined with small, mondo grass shrubs. A labyrinth\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s exact mathematical symmetry is symbolic of the desired balance in life and, as Gerry wished, links the maze-like walkway to religion and spirituality. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153A labyrinth is different from a maze,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Aldersgate Pastor D.L. Evans-Jones. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It guides you.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>Guidance is what Evans-Jones hopes to find in this new spiritual exercise, for both him and his congregation. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153As you walk the labyrinth, let yourself be free to thought and prayer. Try to ignore the distraction of the traffic, because in life we are faced with many distractions and we must remember to keep along our path.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>A concern of the Aldersgate community was the proximity of the labyrinth to Highway 15-501 (the church is located across from the N.C. Botanical Gardens) and the unpleasantness of traffic noise for labyrinth walkers. But after walking the labyrinth, almost everyone says the noise seems to melt into ambient sound, similar to that of constant running water, and doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t distract from concentration at all.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Even with noise, you can be prayerful,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Evans-Jones said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It has to do with centering oneself. Center yourself in prayer.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A labyrinth, seen above under construction, serves as a spiritual exercise for members of Aldersgate United Methodist Church. Photo Courtesy of Aldersgate United Methodist Church\u00c2\u00a0 By Emily Silva Staff Writer \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Every time I walk past it, I get a good feeling,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Frank Jones, maintenance caretaker at Aldersgate United Methodist Church in Chapel Hill. His&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-743","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-community"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/743","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=743"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/743\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=743"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=743"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=743"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}